A Traveling Fan's Manifesto

This post was inspired by another great manifesto that I wholeheartedly agree with over at thegoodgroupie.com. Check it out!

Let's also be impressed I made it this far without ruining the moment and referring to this as a "Fanifesto."

FOR SALE: PAIR OF NEW ORLEANS TICKETS (SOLD)

F̶o̶r̶ ̶S̶a̶l̶e̶ Sold: Two tickets to Hanson’s New Orleans shows Oct. 22nd and 23rd. Included in this once-in-a-lifetime package deal is a pair of tickets to the after party hosted by the talented DJ Taylor Hanson. Asking face value price of $209.48 for the entire package.

These tickets are top-of-the-line print at home and include the official Live Nation trademark emblem to validate their authenticity. They come printed on the highest quality parchment with the finest ink* and offer a tranquil gray background and bold capital fonts to commemorate this unforgettable event. You will also receive a half-page of ads and fine print at no additional cost**.

In addition to the satisfaction of simply owning tickets, you will be treated to the memorable experience of TWO NIGHTS of Hanson performances. Imagine double the respect and double the bragging rights that a normal show brings from all of your less fortunate peers. Enjoy a special mix of cover songs on night one as well as some of Hanson’s best original tunes on night two. These tickets guarantee you a space equal to or lesser than the size of your body in the general admission floor area and are a great opportunity to bring you and your closest friend even closer.

The after party is sure to be a treat and a moment in Hanson history that you won’t want to miss. Sure, you might have missed the first time Hanson ever performed your favorite song live, but with these tickets, you may very well be able to tell your grandchildren: “I was there the 23rd time DJ Taylor Hanson spun Another One Bites the Dust.” Don’t wait on this once-in-a-lifetime experience. Reach out and buy yourself the gift of a lifetime today.

*Should you choose to equip your home printer with these materials.
**less the price of ink

Disclaimer: These tickets do not guarantee any interaction, requests, gratitude, or photo opportunity on the behalf of Hanson. They do not entitle you to any special recognition or wish fulfillment by the band. Any such interaction is entirely circumstantial and up to the band's discretion, generosity, and tight schedule. Such events are not owed to you due to the purchase of these tickets.

(Inside) Inside the Box

1. "Dance Like You Don't Care"

"Dance Like You Don't Care" is one of those songs you're not meant to study too closely. It has more of an electronic sound than I normally like, I laughed hard at some of the lyrics the first time I saw them on paper ("have it sauteed, grilled or filleted..."), and I have no idea what a "swing man" is. But put it all together and it just sounds like a good time. This one is tied for my favorite song on Inside the Box.  I mean how could I NOT like a song with a Space Jam pun?

(Bonus points because I knew he was saying kool-aid all along.)



2. "Give Me Your Best Shot"

This song is like the angry, trash-talking cousin of "You Can't Stop Us." The difference is it's directed at one person, and it's missing that extra punch in the drums. It works though, because it's not threatening to beat you up exactly. It says something more like "I don't need to pound anything heavy and intimidating because even your best shot is pretty weak." Best part: the line "Your face is turning red/But my knuckle's turning white."

3. "Grace Unknown"

I have to admit, based on the title alone, I didn't have high hopes for this song. But then Isaac's voice happened and that was the end of that short-lived, unfounded opinion. I really like everything about the sound of this song, from the instruments to the harmonies and all kinds of fun music-speak I don't know the terms for. Bottom line, I think I speak for everyone when I say:



4. "Don't Hide Your Tears"

I caught the end of the livestream for this song when it was still in the works, and I just knew it was going to be a skip song. My first impression is that it sounded cheesy and fluffy and not about anything real. And then all the stuff with my dad happened and I finally got the finished product in my hands, and the lyrics felt like they were written for me. "Let me be your escape/Every day I'll run away with you" and "Let me heal your tragedy/ Turn your troubled heartbeat red from blue." That was my Hanson Day experience this year put into words and wrapped up with little angelic Beach Boy-style harmonies on top. One of Hanson's strengths has always been the way their voices blend together, and this song showcases some of their best harmonies, in my opinion. I think if I had to pick, this one is my real favorite from Inside the Box. It's a happy sad that just makes me feel better when I listen to it.

5. "What Are We Fighting For"

The first line of "What Are We Fighting For" throws me off every time. My brain wants to think he's just repeating the same phrase a little bit differently, but then it catches that subtle difference between "What are we fighting?" and "What are we fighting for?" One is looking for a reason, and one is looking for that thing that brings people together in the first place that makes any fight worth fighting. I love that the title is the version of that question that looks for the deeper connection and not the fight itself. It's more hopeful that way.

Or maybe this is just a classic example of an English teacher over-analyzing and reading into something that isn't there.




My only disappointment with this year's kit is the lack of Styx song titles. Come on, Hanson. After "Best of Times" in 2013 and "Show Me the Way" in 2014, I had high hopes for a "Come Sail Away," or knowing Zac, a "Mr. Roboto."

Hanson Day 2015

I always do my best to provide a good mix of recap and personal anecdotes in my blog. With any trip, my goal is to create a written memory for myself as well as an image of what it was like to be there for those that couldn't make it. This year, I can't give you the full breakdown I would normally afford a Hanson Day post because it was a very different trip for me. This post is more personal than usual because this trip felt more personal than usual, and representing it as just a bulleted list of events feels false and inadequate. Instead of a traditional recap, here's a glimpse what Hanson Day 2015 was to me.

Lectures

If you had asked me months ago after the initial Hanson Day announcement what I was most excited about, I would have said Taylor’s Song Story lecture. I’m a word nerd forever, and I love any glimpse I can get into the meaning of songs. Maybe you read my Seven Things I’d Like to See at a Future Hanson Day Event post last year and remember me jokingly brushing off the idea of Taylor doing a lecture about song meanings. Sometimes being wrong is awesome.

I was ecstatic about the Song Story announcement and took forever to decide what story of my own would be worthy of sharing before finally sending in my 300 word submission. Fast forward to about a month before the trip, my family found out some really bad news about my dad’s health. Work stress piled on top, and I began to question if this was the first Hanson Day I would sit out. I ultimately decided that I needed the distraction and welcomed the chaotic buzz that has become part of the packaged deal that is Hanson Day. I didn't choose "With You In Your Dreams" or anything particularly emotional, and the story I decided to tell had nothing to do with sickness or my dad. It did, however, have the potential to turn into an emotional conversation, and about a week before the trip, I decided that I really wasn't up for having that conversation on stage. I emailed and withdrew my submission from whatever small chance it had of being chosen because I didn’t want to risk falling apart in front of a crowd.

I knew I made the right decision the minute Taylor called up a fan who had chosen "With You In Your Dreams" because it helped her get through losing her dad. She handled the conversation so well, and I sat amazed at her strength and ability to talk about it openly without breaking down. I am a pretty stoic person most of the time. I've stood dry-eyed through numerous performances of "With You in Your Dreams” and "Lay Me Down," and I’m fairly certain that my bff of 12 years has still never seen me cry to this day. But this year, as Taylor played an impromptu rendition of "With You In Your Dreams,” I broke a ~90 show tear-free streak. My friends quietly patted me on the back and produced a wad of napkins from God knows where to comfort me there in the 2nd row while Taylor sang straight into my little broken heart. That song in that moment meant so much to me, and I both loved and hated him for playing it so unexpectedly. One of the first things I told my friend after finding out the severity of my dad’s illness was I'm never going to be able to handle hearing "With You in Your Dreams" again, and I dreaded the next time I would have to sit through it. But because life is full of ironic symbolism sometimes, it was the very first song I heard Hanson perform live after finding out the news about my dad. It was a bittersweet moment that I won't ever forget.

State of the Band

The State of the Band talk is pretty much the business meeting of the event. We got tour news, nerdy website talk (pins, the new hnet logo that I can’t not read as “hat,” etc.), and the announcement of the MOEY winners.

A strange thing happened here that I certainly didn’t see coming and that I'm not going to bother overanalyzing, rationalizing, or apologizing for. I'll give it to you in math terms:

MOEY categories = 6
Number of categories I entered = 1
Number of categories I won = 2

Now I've never been good with math, but that probability never entered my mind when I submitted my entry. I mean how could it? Your reaction will probably fall somewhere on the scale of standing ovation to eye-roll, but it happened. I went home with two little monkeys for Concept Album and Hnet MVP. I'm amazed, flattered, and thoroughly floored. Thank you to everyone that voted for me and thought I was worthy of another couple of awkward moments on stage ❤.  At least you didn't have to watch me dance this time.

Show

[insert the usual adjectives here: "really fun," "awesome," "amazing," "excellent," etc.]

"Dance Like You Don't Care" was a definite highlight for me and a great way to open the show. "Lost Without You" as a solo was gorgeous, "On and On" will always be a favorite of mine, and "White Collar Crimes" was just plain necessary. I noticed they taped down the lyrics for the song "Don't Hide Your Tears" from the 2015 membership kit, but they never made a move to play it. I guess there's always next year, and I'll be ready when they do finally decide to gift us with those killer harmonies.

The afterparty took place during some crazy monsoon and tornado scare, and I was half-afraid that we would have to stay in Cain's until the warning was lifted. Thankfully, the rain had stopped by the time we walked out. What hadn't stopped was some random "Yeah" track that kept repeating over and over. I left a few minutes early due to an early morning and ended up missing the encore(s) of "Another One Bites the Dust."

Hop Jam

I can't speak in solstice terms, but for me personally, Hop Jam day is the longest day of the year. It starts early and ends late (or early depending on how you look at it), but everything in between is worth the hassle. I admire how hard everyone on staff works for this band and how much teamwork goes into creating a successful event. And to my fellow volunteers, I can't say it enough: YOU ROCK. (And lift, and stack, and sweat, and repeat.)

I'm not sure why, but I enjoyed Hanson's Hop Jam set far more this year than last year. Maybe I just needed it more, or maybe it was due to the great group of friends jumping around me, but I had an absolute blast. We put the "hop" in "Hop Jam" every chance we got, and we had plenty of room for a terrible group execution of the "Thinking 'Bout Somethin'" dance. I wouldn't have it any other way and look forward to recreating our tired mess of flailing next year. Everyone is welcome to join.


Final Thoughts

I wasn't kidding in my MOEYs post or in my brief mess of an acceptance speech about how important this community is to me. I've been an active fan club member for eight years now, and the Hop Jam show was my 90th Hanson event. I've loved every single show that came before and have always had the desire to travel and see Hanson, but this is the first time I felt like I actually needed it. I didn't need it in that joking "MUST. GO. TO. DISNEY." kind of way. I needed it because when my life was getting a little bit too hard and too much to handle, I had this amazing group of friends to support me along with some really talented musicians who had no idea how much I needed them, and yet they were still there for me, too.

In retrospect, I guess I don't really have a "song story" of one song that speaks to me that I can call "my song." Instead, I have a whole band and a community and a place in a crowd that gets me, whether that's front row center or in a parking lot a block from the stage. This is my band and my fan community. This is my happy place and my escape. This is my vacation and my home and foreign and familiar all at once, and I am so grateful to have found a place in it all.

The 2015 MOEY Awards

Anyone that is part of a fan base knows that sometimes the love in that community wears thin. Sure, we have our happy bonding moments (i.e. when you hear a Hanson ringtone several aisles away in Target, and it’s necessary to “walk” over and find out the source so you can meet your new BFF). But for every one of those moments, there’s another where it’s more of a “You’re my sister so I have to love you, but I kind of want to throw things at you right now” type of love. If you stick around long enough, you’ll see a lot of ups and downs in the fan community. You stay because your love for the band that brought you together is stronger than any petty argument.

Let me apologize in advance, because the sap content going forward in this post is high. We're talking maple syrup for days.

THE MOEYs

What are the MOEYs?
Where can I vote?

I’m writing this to say how blown away I was by all of the support I saw during the entry period, and I'm seriously proud of our fan base as a whole. Each entry required a specific number of views or likes in order to qualify as a submission. And instead of an outbreak of competition or favoritism, everyone supported each other. Videos without enough views were actively pushed by friends and often complete strangers. People “liked” and shared content from others that would inevitably become their own competition. I would love it if there was a surprise category for “best supporting role” to award someone who really went above and beyond to promote others, even if they made no entries themselves.

For several weeks now, Hanson fans have been working hard to submit some truly impressive and entertaining material. I know exactly where my comfort zone is, so I stuck with a written entry. To be honest, the video categories terrified me. I have tons of respect for every person that had the guts to enter for the lip syncing categories, and there were so many. There were great recreation videos, a construction paper stop-motion video, and some classic hairbrush-in-your-bedroom-mirror style lip syncing moments just to name a few. Picking a favorite would be impossible, and I’m seriously glad I wasn’t faced with the task of narrowing down the submissions. I'm in great company in my prospective categories and liked several of the concept albums during the entry stages myself. Everyone that entered should feel accomplished, and nobody should be made to feel bad about being chosen or not chosen as a finalist.

I’m hesitant to share this post because I know exactly how sappy it is, and I’ve talked myself out of it and deleted three different versions already. I really don’t want it to come off as a “vote for me” tactic, though I know tackling the MOEY topic at all is probably going to come off that way at least a little. I’ll end by saying it was fun to participate as an entrant and a spectator, and I think everyone that made the effort and had the courage to enter deserves a round of applause. It’s amazing the level of street teaming and camaraderie that can be inspired by a little plastic monkey, a little determination, and a big supportive community of fans.

Best Fan Community Hanskeys for all. :-)

#AwkwardFanConfession(s)

In my last post, I confessed to a pretty embarrassing encounter with Hanson, and I thought it would be fun to collect and share few stories from other fans. Here's what you guys had to say about your awkward moments:

Thanks for all of the fun submissions, and best of luck with your next awkward encounter(s)! Just remember that for every accidental hug, there's someone else out there that has done the same.

That Awkward Moment When...

There’s one totally relatable topic that I’ve somehow never addressed here. I’m talking about that moment when you're interacting with your favorite band and some combination of your inner fangirl and/or natural stupidity decides to make an appearance. That foot-in-mouth or maybe even more literal face-on-ground moment that had you completely mortified while they handled it with grace because they’ve always seen worse. It’s usually followed by the inner struggle of both wanting to take it to your grave and wanting to tell all of your friends in the spirit of a good laugh and a reminder that we’re not alone in our moments of stupidity. I'm pretty sure best friends are just kindred idiot spirits secure enough to laugh at each other together.

If you've been around other fans for any extended amount of time, then you know there's something weirdly magical about getting in a car or sitting on a sidewalk with someone for hours that makes you want to spill all of those stories and collect them like trading cards. We've all got a few Jokers in the deck.

So here’s one of mine, a confession I've never made to the internet:

One time I accidentally hugged Taylor Hanson. I mean a full-on “oops, my arms are around you and you weren’t expecting it” scenario.

I can’t even use the excuse that I was young and stupid or that it was one of my first times meeting the band and I didn’t know how to react. Nope, it was last year. I was an adult. I had met the band plenty of times before without accidentally hugging anyone.

It happened in Jamaica at BTTI 2014 during the individual photos with the band. When my turn came, I walked up and Taylor held out his arms to me. It surprised me because I had watched plenty of people in line ahead of me, and none of them had gotten hugs. It didn’t make sense that he would try to hug me and no one else, but there he was with open arms, so I went with it and started to reciprocate. My arms are halfway around the guy and what he says next puts on all the brakes. ALL the brakes. In a painfully reluctant voice, he goes,

“Oh…so...I guess we’re gonna hug?”

(Don't read playful "haha, we're joking" inflections into that sentence. There weren't any.)

What do you even say to that? We're so used to the perfectly polished, appreciative “That's awesome! Nice to see you!” Taylor Hanson that is normally present at M&Gs, and here was brutally honest and completely caught off guard Taylor Hanson instead. I’m not going to take it personally because I think he was just as confused as I was, but helloooo, awkward. Too late to pull out some obvious "Oh, you thought I was hugging you? I was just stretching my arms in your general direction" save.

So he hugs me back and we survive the most awkward, mutually unwanted hug. My bad, I guess maybe he was just putting his arms out to put one around me in the picture.  Lesson learned. We take the picture and I’m so embarrassed that for once I can't wait to get away from Hanson, but I also can’t walk away without apologizing. I’m not sure what kind of word vomit came out, but I know I told him I was sorry for the awkward hug and that I totally misread the situation. The whole thing must have been full of secondhand embarrassment for them too, because Zac’s response was a very sweet “That’s okay, we can hug” and a big (intentional, I swear!) pity hug. It was a nice gesture that really did make me feel better, but I still walked away mortified and swearing to myself to never physically interact without some sort of verbal confirmation first.

The irony wasn't lost on me as I stood in line for my picture this year in Mexico and watched as all three Hansons hugged every single person in line.  I thought about going up and saying “Oh, so…I guess we’re gonna hug?” when it was my turn. Thankfully, I’m fully aware that the only thing more awkward than a mortifying moment with your favorite band is trying to bring it back up a year later and expecting them to know what in the world you’re talking about. I let the perfect year-late comeback go unsaid and got through a relatively normal M&G photo instead.

Fast forward to the final show later that night on Isla Mujeres. Taylor came down from the stage during their cover of “Back to the Island” and started high fiving the front row. I responded the way I always do, by holding onto the barricade while everyone behind me surged forward with outstretched hands, perfectly content to just hold my own space. So while Taylor is high fiving and coming my way, I’m watching his hand as it goes into the crowd. Keep your eye on the ball so you don’t get smacked in the face, right? I watch as he high fives the people to my left, a series of *palm* *palm* *palm* into the crowd, but then for me, a baffling fist. I’m thinking okay, he sees that I’m not responding to the high five invitation, so he’s trying for a fist bump instead? I fist bump him, then look up at the confused look on his face and immediately realize that whatever he was going for, a fist bump was NOT it. My friend turns and says "Holly, he was saying you look squeezed." He had only been making fists to mimic the way I was holding onto the barricade. By the time I realize this, he has already moved on and more people are fist bumping him. I just stand there laughing at myself because in the world of accidental salutations, at least I've downgraded from hugs to fist bumps. Someone should just tie my hands already.

I had no idea the whole thing was captured on video until it showed up on Hanson.net a few weeks later. It looks quick and normal enough from the outside. Cute, even. Sometimes you just have to laugh at yourself and let everyone else in on it too. And then you stop and thank God that nobody has been around to record all of life's accidental hugs.

Now it's your turn. My next post is going to be a compilation of awkward/embarrassing fan stories, and I want to hear yours!

Submission Guidelines
Submit your story of 300 words or less via email to holly@travelingfan.net. If you have pictures/video documenting the moment, you're welcome to submit those as well. Please include how you would like to be credited (full name, name + twitter handle, name + website url, etc.). I'll take submissions until the end of Sunday, February 22nd. Think Seventeen magazine's Traumarama, traveling fan style. Please keep it PG, and all entries come with free spell-check service. :-)

Don't have a full story, but still want to share an awkward moment? Tweet yours with the hashtag #AwkwardFanConfession and I'll include it in the post. I can't wait to hear your stories!

Travel Tips: Don't Fly American Airlines

...unless you enjoy being lied to and having to pay out of pocket for a hotel room that you were told would be covered.

I have submitted three separate complaints to American Airlines' customer service department in the last two weeks since my trip. It's not a particularly exciting or eloquent read, but it's one I urge you to take into consideration next time you think about buying a ticket from American. Please excuse the fact that their form allows only 1,500 characters including spaces, so my normal wordiness (that expands to exactly the amount of words I need to say what I mean) had to be cut down quite a bit. It's followable, though not my usual detailed account. Short story: I got stuck in Miami overnight on my way home from Cancun. I'll let the following correspondence speak for itself:

A week later, I received a response.

Plot hole #1: I flew from the mild climate of Miami to the mild climate of Charleston, SC. There was no rain, snow, ice, or other freak weather incident. I sat in the terminal and listened to multiple earlier flights out of my gate be delayed due to what seemed to be mechanical issues. I'm positive that the flight closest to mine needed a tire repair.

Plot hole #2: I made zero complaint whatsoever about not making it to my destination on time, nor the inconvenience of it all. At this point I just wanted my money back, and if not my actual money, some effort towards compensation.

Unsatisfied, I tried again.

 (I realize my "1.5 hours" from my first complaint became "2 hours" in the second. Blame lack of sleep when I wrote the first one, and okay, the fish in the story always gets a little bigger. It was an unintentional change and I'm not sure which is accurate. That's okay because neither is acceptable.)

New response from a new representative.

I'm so very glad my $130 could go towards making someone else's canceled flight experience more pleasant in the future. So glad. I only hope the feedback in my blog post here can be just as useful to future customers.

My third response from a third representative skilled in the art of avoidance.

See "plot hole #2" from above again. See "my complaint is not against policy, but with AA's inability to communicate it with me." See direct question #'s 1, 2, and 3, and direct answers #0, 00, and 000. Head, see desk.

From this whole correspondence, I've received zero answers, infinite frustration, and 4,000 AAdvantage miles, which are worth exactly 32% of a one-way domestic flight at the cheapest mileage rate. It looks like the most valuable thing I've gained from this experience is a $130 lesson, and perhaps a new slogan:

Back to the Island 2015: Cancun

This is the hardest review I’ve ever written. I sat in front of a blank screen for the last four days, finally wrote a couple of pages that I hated, and sent them to a friend knowing that I would get sincere feedback. Her response? “I think it's hard to write what you know people want vs. what you want to write.” Dead on. I think the problem is I feel like I’m supposed to get out the glitter and paint this postcard fabulous picture of the BEST VACAY EVER!!1!! when really, it wasn’t that level of epic for me. Yeah, it was fun. Worth the money? Always. And I’ll go back until something physically stops me because I love it all even when I hate little pieces of it. But for reasons I can’t quite nail down, it just wasn’t the best of the three BTTI events for me. I keep reading all of these happy, excited comments about how it was the best trip for so many people, and I can’t help but wonder if there's something wrong with me that I don't agree. We saw all of the same songs, had variations of the same experiences. So what has made me so hard to please that someone else’s best day of their life can feel like a 7 on a scale of 1-10 for me?

I can’t blame the music.  Ironically, I was pretty disappointed when I found out about the Christmas set that ultimately turned out to be one of my favorite shows to date out of the 80+ I’ve been to. Top 5 material at least. “In a Little While” blew me away that night and might have been my favorite performance of the trip. The whole feeling of standing

in the gazebo with the insane wind blowing past us, dancing like fools wearing holly and santa hats was a moment memories are made of. When I think back about this trip, I’m not going to daydream about the disappointing empanadas I ate or the fact that I missed getting a picture with a monkey. It’s going to be that moment dancing in the gazebo and belting out Christmas songs on a beach in January with friends.

I definitely can’t blame all the lyric mistakes either because I live for stuff like that. It’s like watching a live gag reel and just feels more genuine and real than something that has been rehearsed into monotony. If you went to the first BTTI in Jamaica (or read the blog), then you’ll remember Isaac accidentally jumped back into the chorus of “Wish that I Was There” when they were supposed to be starting “Deeper.” I laughed so hard and thought it was the best thing ever—until now. Here’s the 2015 scenario: Isaac is doing his solo show. This group of people standing in chairs starts screaming a request in unison, and it’s one of those annoying moments where you hope he won’t play it on principle, because everyone has requests and most of us are polite enough to keep them to ourselves mid-song. But then I realize they’re requesting “Sometimes” from Three Car Garage, and I’m prepared to give them a pass if he plays it because I would LOVE to hear that song. Isaac hears and says that if he can wrap his mind around how to play it, maybe they would get to hear it after the next song.

He makes it through “Someone” and then launches into this story about how they used to play “Sometimes” every show in 1998, and it’s so obvious that it’s a buildup to playing it. Except when he starts playing, the chords don’t sound right. And when he starts singing the lyrics, they’re ones I have never heard before. I’m looking around watching people singing along and feeling terribly confused about why these people all know this non-Sometimes song, and why in the world Isaac hasn’t noticed that he’s singing the wrong song yet. I start getting excited because I know there’s going to be a brilliant “aha!” moment. He HAS to realize it at the chorus. I catch the word “Smile” and vaguely recall it as the title of a Hanson song, even if it’s one I’ve never heard. Not Isaac, though. He just plows right on, singing a fabulous, error-free rendition of not Sometimes. The moment of realization came a verse or so later, but you know it’s bad when I recognized the song before Isaac did and I had never even heard it before.

Later, he forgot the first verse of “Best of Times,” Taylor forgot a verse of “I’ve Been Down,” and Isaac physically choked and started coughing mid-song during the last show (he said "Sorry, I choked!" To which Zac responded "Yeah, you definitely choked"). There were a lot of gag reel moments (emphasis on "gag" for the latter) and some great on-the-spot song writing (“Sand in My Crevice” and the male version of “Madeline”) that kept me laughing at every show. I love getting that kind of glimpse at these events that would never happen on tour.

I’ll admit the extra events fell short of amazing for me this year, partly due to the resort setup. I was so excited that they brought back Isaac’s Mixology from the first BTTI, but it didn’t have the same fun, relaxed atmosphere as before. I think the entertainment staff in Jamaica had a lot to do with how fun that one turned out and made it entertaining to watch even for someone that doesn’t drink. Taylor’s afterparty included some epic surprises this year with guest appearances by Isaac in a wig and unidentifiable animal costume, an anonymous hippo, and Dimitrius in some strange tribal showgirl getup. It was funny to watch, but with the smaller, darker setting, the whole thing felt more like something to watch than something to participate in. It was less of a party and more of a literal zoo. Zac is always such a trooper during his events mingling with different groups and trying to provide that personal interaction everyone wants, and this year was no exception. He sat down at our table and started rambling about Fifty Shades of Grey, always the entertainer with the most random topics, but it still felt off somehow. I also prefer tie dye for the simple fact that it’s easier and the end product is more useful. I guess my blue duck is a conversation piece, but I'm not sure that's a conversation I want to have.

(Sidenote: I’m just going to go ahead and pitch the idea of Karaoke with Isaac for a future BTTI event. We walked into a drunken karaoke session on our extra night, and I immediately thought of the lyrical mishaps and crazy afterparty antics. Maybe combine it with the afterparty somehow? It would provide epic laughs for everyone and would be fun even if you don’t participate.)

I know I'm stepping on a lot of toes here, but I have to say I was also disappointed by the cameras. I mean no disrespect to anyone who brought one or took photos or videos, but as an overall observation, I think the sheer volume and obvious presence of them killed it for me a little bit because there always seemed to be one in my way, and when there wasn't, there were still 87 flashes going off. If you weren’t in the front row, they were going to block your view, end of story. I was sad during Zac’s solo show when someone’s husband/boyfriend shot his arm into the air in the middle of the crowd and held it steady two feet above his head for an entire song. Youtube will have a great view, but I never saw Zac once during that song. Even though I don’t particularly enjoy taking a ton of photos or videos, I can respect the fact that those things might mean more to someone else, and that if you pay $2,000+ to go to the event, by all means, take photos if that’s what you value. Just don’t do it in a way that interferes with or takes away from someone else’s $2,000+ experience. If you can doublefist cameras without blocking my view or bumping me constantly, have at it. BUT THERE IS NO POLITE WAY TO HOLD A SELFIE STICK IN THE FRONT ROW AT A CONCERT. None. No excuse. Don’t. I feel like this person’s friends should have intervened, you know? Friends don’t let friends use selfie sticks at shows. I love you, friends, enough to tell you when your genius idea is actually terrible. Please do the same for me.

I've seen a lot of discussion and judgment about the girls who chose to "camp out" for the shows on this trip. The general consensus seems to be some version of why would you pay that much money just to sit in front of the stage all day and not explore more and do some sightseeing? I didn't wait long for any show, but I can play devil's advocate and totally identify with the girls that did: Let's be honest here. I didn't pay $2,000 to see Mexico. If I wanted to go on a relaxing vacation to Cancun, I would. I would go to a nicer resort, go during a warmer time of year, and pay a lot less money to do it. Maybe you paid $2,000 for a vacation with a little Hanson on the side, but I paid $2,000 to have a little vacation while I see Hanson. It all depends on what you value. Do what makes you happy and don't worry about anyone else. If you value being front row over seeing ancient ruins, I support you. If you value sleep over Hanson and went to bed early and missed three songs, go for it. It's not hurting me. And if what makes you happy is complaining about what makes other people happy, then I guess carry on and we'll all get exactly what we want at the end of the day.

The last thing I have to mention is the surprise excursion. When we got our itineraries just weeks before the trip, my eye immediately caught the phrase "depart resort" before the final show. My brain ran rampant with ideas, and combined with the final setlist being called the "Desert Island Mix," I suspected we were being taken away to an actual island for the last show. My hunch was right, and we found out the day before that we were being escorted by bus and boat to the lovely Isla Mujeres (Hanson missed a golden joke opportunity here. The English translation is "Island of Women.") They loaded all 400ish of us into 7 or so buses, and there was a full-blown mob trying to get on the first bus (full disclosure: yeah, I was in it). Then all of the buses were loaded onto two ferries, aka a "booze cruise." The mob fighting to be first on the bus and first on the boat felt like how I imagine it would have felt to be on the Titanic and knowing that there weren't enough life boats ("Not enough by half!"). Somewhere, someone is asking if the boats will be seated by class, and that's just a whole other tangent I'm not exploring in this post. Like I need further ammunition to tie Titanic to Hanson shows.

This was the return dock. The one we were let out on
was a little wider and full of unexpected turns.

When the boat stopped, we were let out onto the dock of death. It was fairly narrow to accommodate all of us, maybe wide enough for three people to safely cross side by side. It also had no rails and no lights in some areas, and felt like it went on for a mile. Basically it's a miracle no one fell or got shoved off. It felt a little bit like being in a video game only I knew some cute little tortoise shell guy wasn't going to come fish me out if I fell off of the track.

All chaos aside, I love my favorite band for kidnapping me so they can perform an amazing show on a secluded island. The setting was gorgeous like a wedding reception. The barricade was a white picket fence, which I feel is full of some kind of ironic symbolism. Who needs a 2-story house and 2.5 kids when you can have front row at a Hanson show on an island? "White Collar Crimes" was every bit as fantastic the second time as it was back in May at its debut, and I loved all of the Walk Era throwbacks that reminded me of when I first fell into this crazy wonderful mess of traveling for Hanson.

So maybe the whole thing didn't make me squeal or cry or feel the need to text all of my friends the minute I landed back in the United States, but it made me smile. It made me laugh until I cried a few times, and it made me thankful that I'm able to even do things like this time and time again. I'm not walking away disappointed or let down that it wasn't the best week of my life; I'm walking away going man, how lucky am I if this ISN'T the best Hanson show experience I've had so far? I'm thankful for every weird minute.

And I didn't get that amazing perfect picture with a Hanson like I did last year, but I still came home with one pretty epic shot:

ETA: How could I forget to mention one of my favorite moments? "Two Tears" during Isaac's solo show was awesome. I loved being part of the crowd of baby Taylor voices. A+++

My Anti-Bucket List: 2014 Edition

We're all familiar with the concept of new year's resolutions, the practice of identifying things you want to accomplish in the next 365 days. On a larger scale, you have the bucket list of everything you want to do before you "kick the bucket." It can be a great motivational tool, but it always leaves room for disappointment.

I've never been satisfied with that kind of goal setting, so a few years ago I came up with an alternative: The Anti-Bucket List. Instead of a giant list of things you haven't done yet, the Anti-Bucket List is a list of things you've already accomplished. I do one every year, but the time frame is entirely up to you. What things have you already accomplished in 2014? Ever? Create your own, and take a moment to be proud of what you've done so far.

More examples:

The original Anti-Bucket List.
Anti Bucket List 2013

If you want to create your own, try my current photo editing website obsession: www.canva.com.